Glass Houses: Designer of IDS Center was Nazi sympathizer The architect of the IDS Center, Philip Johnson, was a Nazi sympathizer, reports show. (FOX 9) - Nearly 50 years ago, the IDS Center became the star of the Minneapolis skyline. At 57-stories it remains the city’s tallest building.
Glass houses: Designer of IDS Center was Nazi sympathizer Philip Johnson, the architect who designed the IDS Center in Minneapolis, had Nazi sympathies and fascist leanings. Johnson was already one of the most famous architects in America for his ‘Glass Houses,’ but the IDS Center placed him in the stratosphere of so-called "starchitects," sought after by corporate clients to build signature skyscrapers around the world.